THE VENUE:Cabaret Voltaire is a trendy cafe and nightclub. Frequented by hipsters, students and festival goers. Located on Blair Street which runs between The Royal Mile and Cowgate, it is in a great location with an awful lot of footfall.

THE SPACE:I was in Room 2. This is the smaller of the two main rooms. It is a room in the nightclub (normally closed during the daytime). It can seat around 50. It is separate from the main bar by an archway only. We used a duvet as a curtain, partially to separate it from the main atrium, but also to reduce the noise bleed as much as possible. The stage area is not raised (not unusual for a Fringe venue) and can accommodate stand-up shows easily. Room is air-conditioned, massive plus (just make sure it isn't too cold before you start!).

VENUE STAFF:Lovely, couldn't have asked for more. Without exception friendly and helpful. Not to mention they gave us wristbands that got us various offers on food and drink for the duration of the festival.

AUDIENCE NUMBERS:Usually had 25-35, filled the room weekends and on some other occasions.

BUCKETS:Good, considering audience size. Usually around £40-£80. I managed to get a high average donation by an unapologetic gag intense bucket speech and selling DVDs.

TECH SET UP:Everything you could want. Decent mics, great sound desk, cable to play iPod (or similar) for intro/exit music. The sound desk is quite complex, a bit of tech experience would be helpful.

ADMIN AND COMMUNICATION:I was VC for Room 2 and hope that everyone found me approachable and available. The venue is a lot of hard work (with it having to be reset daily). The fact is, the venue is a brilliant space in the centre of town, but if you want that prepare to put in some graft